Improvements in and/or relating to fence posts

ABSTRACT

A fence post for engagement with the ground via insertion therein, wherein at least that part of the fence post which is to be inserted into the ground is tubular wherein the internal surface of the tube includes an internal thread extending between a ground engaging end and end of the fence post distance from the ground engaging end.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fence posts and in particular but notsolely related to fence posts made of recycled plastic materials.

BACKGROUND

Fence posts of traditional design are manufactured from wood. Whenlocated in the ground they will rot if the post is not treated. Even ifthe wood is treated, over a long period of time it may still rot. Thepost also will leach into the ground the toxic materials which are usedto treat the post. For many applications this is acceptable. Howeverthere are applications, where this is unacceptable or undesirable suchas for example organic farming or where a high quality of grape isdesired from a vine. Thus the presence of such contaminants in theground is not desirable.

Furthermore the removal and placement of a wooden post is time consumingin comparison to its insertion into the ground. Often the post must bedug out completely around its periphery and depth to remove it and anydecomposed parts which remain within the ground. This is particularlythe case when the post has commenced rotting.

Concrete posts have also been known in the art. However these are heavyfor their relative strength and fragile also. Further, they can beexpensive. Additionally they do not readily behave like a normal woodedfence post, for example the convenience of nailing.

The use of plastic to manufacture fence posts and fencing systems isknown, for example in NZ214153 and NZ239872 of Quinn et al. Thesepatents disclose a plastic post which requires an insert to retain thewires thereon.

Furthermore NZ246034 (Instant Foundations) discloses a ground anchor ofplastic construction with an external thread and flange for groundinsertion and load bearing.

Therefore to have a post which has a long lifetime, does not rot orcontaminate the ground has ease of use of insertion, and also of removalif desired, is of benefit The useful repository for recycled materialsalso has a benefit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this specification where reference has been made to patentspecifications, other external documents, or other sources ofinformation, this is generally for the purpose of providing a contextfor discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically statedotherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construedas an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, inany jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common generalknowledge in the art.

It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide afencing post which at least goes someway to addressing the aboveshortcomings of the prior art or which will at least provide the publicwith a useful choice.

In a first aspect the present invention may be said to broadly consistin a fence post for engagement with the ground via insertion therein,

wherein at least that part of said fence post which is to be insertedinto said ground is tubular wherein the internal surface of the tubeincludes an internal thread extending between a ground engaging end andend of said fence post distance from the ground engaging end.

In a second aspect the present invention may be said to broadly consistin a fence post for engagement with the ground via insertion therein,said fence post comprising or including,

a hollow tubular member having a longitudinal axis, the hollow tubularmember including an internal thread about said longitudinal axisextending to a ground penetrating end of said hollow tubular member.

Preferably at said ground penetrating end there is an internally angledperipheral chamfer to aid cutting of said ground upon insertion.

Preferably said fence post is made of plastic.

Preferably said plastic is recycled plastic.

Preferably said internal thread is of a coarse pitch of approximately atleast the internal diameter of said hollow tubular member of said fencepost.

Preferably said angled peripheral chamfer acts as a cutting edge. to aidengagement and insertion with and into said ground.

Preferably said peripheral chamfer may be notched or toothed to furtheraid cutting and engagement of said ground.

Preferably said plastic is of a type which can be cut or penetrativelyfastened thereto for attachment of members, e.g. wire, bracing and thelike.

Preferably said internal thread and peripheral chamfer aid insertion ofsaid fence post into said ground when rotation about said longitudinalaxis and pressure parallel to said longitudinal axis and toward saidground are applied to said post.

Preferably said fence post has, distal from its ground penetrative end,engagement means for engagement with insertion apparatus.

Preferably said engagement means is complimentary to said insertionapparatus such that said insertion apparatus can impart both saidrotation and pressure.

Preferably said engagement means is an aperture through said fence postperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said fence post.

Preferably said aperture is a through hole or blind hole.

Preferably said post is of entirely circular tubular cross section.

Preferably said tubular member is able to engage an extension member toallow the height of said fence to be increased when greater fence heightis required (e.g. for deer fencing or a wind break).

Preferably said distal end of said tubular member is hollow to receivean extension to be retained in place by a pin there through.

Preferably there is an attachment member intermediate of said distal endand said extension.

Preferably said attachment member attaches to said fence post by sleevedengagement.

Preferably said attachment member attaches to said extension by sleevedengagement.

Preferably said attachment member is sleeved inside said fence postdistal end.

Preferably said attachment member is sleeved inside said extension.

Preferably said attachment member is retained to both said fence postand said extension via two or more pins.

In a further aspect the present invention consists in a method of fencepost insertion to insert a proximal end thereof into a retaining medium(e.g. the ground or earth) comprising or including the steps of,

engaging said fence post with a driving means at a location distal fromsaid proximal end, said driving means capable of applying rotation aboutthe longitudinal axis of said fence post and pressure parallel to saidlongitudinal axis toward said retaining medium, said fence post is of ahollow and tubular elongate cross-section at least in that part to beengaged with said medium, said post further having an internal threadedportion towards said proximal end of said hollow and tubular portion,

said post being driven into said medium by said driving means, with saidrotation being in the engaging direction of a said thread,

which together with said internal thread can provide an in mediumretained fence post.

Preferably said driving means is powered.

Preferably said powered driving means engages with the distal end ofsaid fence post.

Preferably said powered driving means engages with said fence post via acomplimentary engagement means.

Preferably said complimentary engagement means engages with at least onesurface substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis totransmit said pressure.

Preferably said complimentary engagement means engages with at least onesurface substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis to transmitsaid rotation.

Preferably said complimentary engagement means is a socket attachment.

Preferably said socket attachment engages with said distal end via a pintherethrough to at least transmit said rotation to said post.

Preferably said pin transfers said pressure to said fence post also.

Preferably said pin therethrough is perpendicular to said longitudinalaxis.

Preferably said socket attachment also engages a surface (“the topsurface”) at said distal end to impart said pressure parallel to saidlongitudinal axis.

Preferably rotation of said fence post in the opposite direction aids tothe remove said fence post from the ground.

In a further aspect still the present invention consists in a method offence erection wherein at least one fence post as claimed in any one ofclaims 2 to 23 is driven into the ground and thereafter fencing materialis run between said posts to form a fence line.

Preferably said fencing material is at least one wire.

Preferably said fencing material is retained to said post by nailing.

Preferably said fencing material is retained to said at least one fencepost by cuts in the periphery of said fence post only.

Preferably said cuts are made at least in part by thermal energy.

Preferably the distal end of said at least one fence post to is able toengage an extension to said fence post to allow the height of said fenceto be increased when greater fence height is required (e.g. for deerfencing or a wind break).

Preferably said distal end is hollow to receive said extension, eitherdirectly or by sleeved engagement of an intermediate attachment memberand is retained in place by a pin there through.

Preferably rotation of said at least one fence post opposite to thatrotation applied upon insertion thereof aids in removal of said fencepost from the ground.

In yet another aspect the present invention consists in a fence post asherein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanyingdrawings.

In yet a further aspect the present invention consists in a method offence manufacture as herein described with reference to any one or moreof the accompanying drawings.

In yet a further aspect still the present invention consists inapparatus form a method of fence manufacture as herein described withreference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In yet another further aspect the present invention consists in fence asherein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanyingdrawings.

In yet another further aspect still the present invention consists infence manufactured by the method as herein described with reference toany one or more of the accompanying drawings.

The term ‘comprising’ as used in this specification means ‘consisting atleast in part of’, that is to say when interpreting statements in thisspecification which include that term, the features, prefaced by thatterm in each statement, all need to be present but other features canalso be present.

This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts,elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification ofthe application, individually or collectively, and any or allcombinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, andwhere specific integers are mentioned herein which have knownequivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such knownequivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually setforth.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an isometric upright view of a fence post of the presentinvention,

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross section through the fence post of FIG. 1,with FIG. 1A showing a fence post of hollow construction, FIG. 2Bshowing a fence post of partial hollow construction, and FIG. 2C showinga fence post of hollow construction with an internal thread along theentire length,

FIG. 3 shows the fence post of the present invention with attacheddriving apparatus for insertion into the ground (and/or removal from theground also),

FIG. 4 shows a fence post in situ in the ground with wire attached toform a fence,

FIG. 5 shows in side elevation a similar view to that of FIG. 4 with theaddition of an extension to the fence to give increased height, e.g. fordeer fencing or to hold a wind break, and

FIG. 6 b shows a further method of attaching the extension, by use ofthe attachment member of FIG. 6 a.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 through 6.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment the fence post (1) is of substantially hollowcross section; the hollow (7) extending all the way through the lengthof the fence post (1). In another embodiment the hollow (7) may onlypartially extend from the ground engaging end (5), preferably at leasthowever to a depth into the post at least equal to the depth ofengagement in the ground 3. This will allow sufficient space for theearth of the ground to move up the hollow, and will prevent compactionand binding of the fence post. Around the periphery of the hollow (7) atthe ground engaging end (5) there is an internally angled peripheralchamfer (11). This peripheral chamfer (11) produces an edge which aidscutting of the ground (3) to aid the installation of the fence post (1).Additionally optionally the ground engaging end (5) may have teeth ornotches (40) to help cut the ground and/or roots or similar that may bepresent, again to aid installation of the fence post.

Towards the ground engaging end (5) in the hollow (7) there is aninternal thread (9). In preferred embodiments the thread is of pitch Pwhich is greater than or equal to the internal diameter D of the hollow(7). However any pitch may generally be used. The internal thread (9)may extend the full length of the hollow (7) as in FIG. 2C or, may onlyextend part of the way as in FIG. 2B, or any variation in between.Multi-start threads are also considered within the scope of theinvention.

The purpose of the thread (9) is twofold; first of all the thread aidsinsertion into the ground. The pressure downwards into the ground androtation in a direction to engage the thread (the direction of thethread) are applied to the post the thread will aid in the thread likeengagement with the ground as the post is inserted into the ground.Secondly the thread provides a keying with the ground to resist pullingout fences and also spreads the area for lateral loads applied. Thirdlythe thread will provide the benefit that when the post is to be removedthe application of an upwards force together with the opposite rotationwill essentially unthread the post from the ground thus freeing it andenabling the removal of the post to be effected with greater ease.

The method of insertion of the fence post (1) into the ground (3) isachieved as follows.

The post (1) has attached towards the end distal from insertion (29) asocket attachment (31) which fits at least in part over the end (29).The socket may be retained in a number of ways however the preferredmethod is by use of a pin (14) which passes through the socketattachment (31) and the post (1) to provide at least a rotationalengagement of the two. The socket (31) may also bear upon any planarsurface (33) for example the top surface of the post (1) to apply aforce downwards into the ground. The post (1) is rotated in the engagingdirection to allow the tread (9) to “screw” into the ground. Thecombination of rotation and force downwards therefore propels the groundengaging end (5) into the ground (3). At the ground engaging end (5)there is the internally angled peripheral chamfer (11) and optionallynotch or tooth (40). This produces a cutting edge on the first part ofthe fence post (1) to contact the ground (3). This peripheral chamfermay also optionally be toothed or notched to further engage the groundand aid in breaking up of the ground to ease the penetration of thefence post.

The socket attachment (31) is driven from a powered driving means (27)which may be the power take-off of a tractor or other farm implement.Provided there is at least a surface present to take the pressure (42)and at least one surface to take the rotation (43) then the engagementwith the socket will be achieved. For example the top end of the fencepost (1) may be of hexagonal shape (or any other polygonal form) whichpresents surfaces for imparting rotation and the upper end surface ofthe fence post (1) may take the pressure (42) force.

The fence post (1) once engaged into the ground can have wires (4)whether of barbed or normal or other configurations attached to itsouter periphery. The wires may be attached by either the standard methodof using penetrative fastenings (22) e.g. a U or horse-shoe nail.Alternatively the wire (4) may be engaged into the outer periphery bythe provision of a cut (21) in the outer periphery. Such cut may beproduced by means known in the art for creating such incisions; othermeans also due to the plastic nature of material may be used such asthermal or heat generating tools (e.g. a heated wire) to produce such acut. Of course a combination of cut and penetrative fastenings may alsobe used. The fence post (1) maybe easily removed by reversing therotation direction and upwards force.

The use of the fence post together with wire and other fence postswhether of the current invention or otherwise will be able to produce afence line for the controlling of stock units defining or controllingaccess to an area.

An extension is optionally able to be attached to the top of the fencepost. The attachment method may take many forms.

One set of methods is the sleeving of the extension (8) with the distalend (29). This may take the form of the extension sleeving into thefence post or vice versa. The sleeving in one form, utilises a distalend hollow (12) at the end distal to the ground (that is the top of thefence post). This hollow (12) allows for the attachment by insertion ofan extension (8). The extension (8) may be held in place utilising theapertures (26) and an extension pin (16). Alternatively other aperturesmay be provided. In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 6, anattachment member (34) has at least one protrusion (35) projectingtherefrom to engage with the hollow (12) of the fence post (1). Theinclusion of the pin (16) locks the attachment member (34). Theattachment member may have a second protrusion (36) which can engage ina like complementary hollow (37). There after a further pin (16) locksthe extension (8), attachment member (34) and fence post (1) together.

In other embodiments the extension may have a hollow to receive thefence post (1) and be retained thereto by a pin.

In one preferred embodiment an attachment member (34) sleeves into boththe fence post (1) and the extension (8), in the embodiment shown theattachment member (34) fits within a distal end hollow (12) and sleevesin a similar way into the extension (8). Alternatively the attachmentmember (34) may sleeve on the outside of either or both of the fencepost and extension.

The extension may have normal wires (4) (e.g. for deer fencing) or mayhave netting (38) or similar (4) for creating a shelter belt orotherwise. Such removable extensions allow for the height of the fencesystem to be easily adjusted as per the use requirements of the area inwhich the fence is deployed.

Further extensions may be added to the in place extension to extend theheight of the fence as need be. If the fence post (1) is sufficientlybraced then no added bracing is needed. However should more stability berequired (e.g. for high fencing, and or wind protection) then addedbracing (39) may be added.

A brace post (6) may also be utilised where the fence post (1) is totake large amounts of strain (e.g. at comers or in long runs offencing). The brace post (6) may be a traditional wood based design ormaybe of the preferred embodiment plastic fence post (1) of the presentinvention driven into the ground by means as described. The brace post(6) may notch into the plastic in a preformed aperture in the post asper traditional means or maybe pinned in place additionally.

The forgoing description of the invention includes preferred formsthereof. Modifications may be made thereto without departing from thescope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

1-48. (canceled)
 49. A fence post for engagement with the ground viainsertion therein, wherein (i) at least that part of said fence postwhich is to be inserted into said ground is tubular; and (ii) theinternal surface of the tube includes an internal thread extendingbetween a ground engaging end and an end of said fence post spaced fromsaid ground engaging end.
 50. A fence post for engagement with theground via insertion therein, said fence post comprising: (i) a hollowtubular member having a longitudinal axis; (ii) a thread; (iii) saidthread comprising an internal thread about said longitudinal axis ofsaid hollow tubular member and extending to a ground penetrating end ofsaid hollow tubular member.
 51. A fence post as defined in claim 50,wherein at said ground penetrating end there is an internally angledperipheral chamfer of said post whereby to aid cutting of said groundupon insertion.
 52. A fence post as defined in claim 50, wherein saidfence post is made of plastic.
 53. A fence post as defined in claim 50,wherein said fence post is made of plastic and wherein said plastic isrecycled plastic.
 54. A fence post as defined in claim 50, wherein saidinternal thread is of a coarse pitch of approximately at least theinternal diameter of said hollow tubular member of said fence post. 55.A fence post as defined in claim 51, wherein said angled peripheralchamfer acts as a cutting edge to aid engagement and insertion with andinto said ground.
 56. A fence post as defined in claim 51, wherein saidperipheral chamfer is notched to further aid cutting and engagement ofsaid ground.
 57. A fence post as defined in claim 50 wherein said fencepost is made of plastic and wherein said plastic is of a type which canbe penetratively fastened thereto for attachment of additional members.58. A fence post as defined in claim 51, wherein said internal threadand peripheral chamfer aid insertion of said fence post into said groundwhen rotation about said longitudinal axis and pressure parallel to saidlongitudinal axis and toward said ground are applied to said post.
 59. Afence post as defined in claim 50, wherein said fence post has, distalfrom its ground penetrative end, engagement means for engagement withinsertion apparatus.
 60. A fence post as defined in claim 59, whereinsaid engagement means is complementary to said insertion apparatus suchthat said insertion apparatus can impart both said rotation andpressure.
 61. A fence post as defined in claim 59, wherein saidengagement means is an aperture through said fence post perpendicular tothe longitudinal axis of said fence post.
 62. A fence post as defined inclaim 59, wherein said engagement means is an aperture comprising athrough hole.
 63. A fence post as defined in claim 59, wherein saidengagement means is an aperture comprising a blind hole.
 64. A fencepost as defined in claim 50, wherein said post is of entirely circulartubular cross section.
 65. A fence post as defined in claim 50, whereinsaid tubular member is able to engage an extension member to allow theheight of said fence to be increased when greater fence height isrequired.
 66. A fence post as defined in claim 50, wherein said postincludes said ground penetrating end and a distal end, said distal endbeing hollow to receive an extension to be retained in place by a pintherethrough.
 67. A fence post as defined in claim 66, wherein there isan attachment member intermediate of said distal end and said extension.68. A fence post as defined in claim 67, wherein said attachment memberattaches to said fence post by sleeved engagement.
 69. A fence post asdefined in claim 66, wherein said attachment member attaches to saidextension by sleeved engagement.
 70. A fence post as defined in claim67, wherein said attachment member is sleeved inside said fence postdistal end.
 71. A fence post as defined in claim 67, wherein saidattachment member is sleeved inside said extension.
 72. A fence post asdefined in claim 67, wherein said attachment member is retained to bothsaid fence post and said extension via a plurality of pins.
 73. A methodof fence post insertion to insert a proximal end thereof into aretaining medium comprising the steps of: (i) engaging said fence postwith a driving means at a location distal from said proximal end; (ii)said driving means being capable of applying rotation about alongitudinal axis of said fence post and pressure parallel to saidlongitudinal axis toward said retaining medium, said fence post being ofa hollow and tubular elongate cross-section at least in that part to beengaged with said medium, said post further having an internal threadedportion towards said proximal end of said hollow and tubular portion;(iii) said post being driven into said medium by said driving means,with said rotation being in the engaging direction of said thread, whichtogether with said internal thread can provide an in medium retainedfence post.
 74. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 73,wherein said driving means is powered.
 75. A method of fence postinsertion as defined in claim 73, wherein said driving means is poweredand said powered driving means engages with the distal end of said fencepost.
 76. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 75,wherein said powered driving means engages with said fence post via acomplementary engagement means.
 77. A method of fence post insertion asdefined in claim 75, wherein said powered driving means engages withsaid fence post via a complementary engagement means and wherein saidcomplementary engagement means engages with at least one surfacesubstantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis to transmit saidpressure.
 78. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 76,wherein said complementary engagement means engages with at least onesurface substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis to transmitsaid rotation.
 79. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim76, wherein said complementary engagement means is a socket attachment.80. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 76, whereinsaid complementary engagement means is a socket attachment which engageswith said distal end via a pin therethrough to at least transmit saidrotation to said post.
 81. A method of fence post insertion as definedin claim 80, wherein said pin transfers said pressure to said fence postalso.
 82. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 80,wherein said pin therethrough is perpendicular to said longitudinalaxis.
 83. A method of fence post insertion as defined in claim 79,wherein said socket attachment also engages a surface (“the topsurface”) at said distal end to impart said pressure parallel to saidlongitudinal axis.
 84. A method of fence post insertion as defined inclaim 73, wherein rotation of said fence post in the opposite directionaids to remove said fence post from the ground.
 85. A method of fenceerection wherein at least one fence post as defined in claim 50 isdriven into the ground and thereafter fencing material is run betweensaid posts to form a fence line.
 86. A method of fence erection asdefined in claim 85, wherein said fencing material is at least one wire.87. A method of fence erection as defined in claim 85, wherein saidfencing material is retained to said post by nailing.
 88. A method offence erection as defined in claim 85, wherein said fencing material isretained to said at least one fence post by cuts in the periphery ofsaid fence post only.
 89. A method of fence erection as defined in claim88, wherein said cuts are made at least in part by thermal energy.
 90. Amethod of fence erection as defined in claim 85, wherein the distal endof said at least one fence post is able to engage an extension to saidfence post to allow the height of said fence to be increased whengreater fence height is required.
 91. A method of fence erection asdefined in claim 90, wherein said distal end is hollow to receive saidextension directly and is retained in place by a pin therethrough.
 92. Amethod of fence erection as defined in claim 90, wherein said distal endis hollow to receive said extension by sleeved engagement of anintermediate attachment member and is retained in place by a pintherethrough.
 93. A method of fence post erection as defined in claim85, wherein rotation of said at least one fence post opposite to thatrotation applied upon insertion thereof aids in removal of said fencepost from the ground.